By Lindsey Ashley
This Monday, the board of commissioners held another open discussion regarding airport wildlife concerns.
As many may recall, the city of Clare previously held an open discussion back in early September. During this discussion, the city spoke with Airport Manager Gabe Ambrozaitis as well as other members of the public to propose solutions for the deer at the airport. This conversation led to the identification of three key solutions: vegetation and tree removal, culling, and building a fence.
Since September’s discussion, Gabe Ambrozaitis has conducted further research to answer some of the City Commission’s lingering questions and concerns. As a result, Ambrozaitis went before the board again this Monday. Ambrozaitis revealed that MDOT Aeronautics was recently awarded $6.8 million in additional funding from the state.
In spite of this, it’s still too early to tell whether or not MDOT will be awarding grants to the city. However, Ambrozaitis expressed his optimism, stating, “I’m hopeful that MDOT Aeronautics will be notifying the airports around the city like we had last year. But we just don’t know yet.”
The board also revealed that they could tentatively contribute roughly $100,000 of their funding to the fencing. However, the city would still require a large monetary contribution to build this fence.
Although this conversation has been dominated by the uncertainties, Ambrozaitis was able to share some positive changes. The drain commissioner is also set to visit the airport during this week or the next to discuss vegetation removal options around the drain. Ambrozaitis also shared that airport pilot Mark Bolle has operated a skid steer and extreme brush hog out of his own generous accord to push the vegetation towards the trees proposed for removal.
This has led to some powerful changes to the deer count around the airport, with Ambrozaitis stating, “Some of the PIREPS pilot reports are only 20 deer instead of the normal 52.” Ambrozaitis suggested that this reduction could also be due to the onset of fall and the lack of crops on the property.
City Manager Jeremy Howard proposed determining the estimated bid costs of two fencing sections and the full fence in order to compare and weigh the city’s price options. Commissioner Bob Bonham expanded on Howard’s proposal, asserting, “My feeling is that if we can get it to the northeast corner, it would be the most important part. From the [airport] terminal to the northeast corner.”
After further expansion and discussion, the board voted in favor of Howard’s idea. Ultimately, while no official verdict has been reached regarding what to do about this problem, the city has continued to make meaningful strides towards increasing airport safety.
